Marketplace
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ACA Lightening the Load – Better Access to Preventive Care
As some Say Ahhh! readers know, I recently moved across the country with my husband and toddler. It’s been more than three months, but we’re still searching our new place for clothes or items that got lost in the shuffle. Of course, part of moving is also setting up your life in a new place…
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Affordability
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Outreach And Enrollment
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Exchange (Marketplace)
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Essential Health Benefits
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Eligibility & Coverage
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Consumer Protections
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent voice to the dialogue on how to most effectively make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality for children and families.
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Final Exchange Rules Part 1
By Joe Touschner This week’s final exchange rule from HHS is unlikely to be the last large package of rules implementing ACA that we will see in the coming weeks–we still expect regulations on Medicaid eligibility, premium tax credits, and risk adjustment, not to mention more on the essential health benefits and other key topics…
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A New Online Path to Children’s Health Care Coverage
Gene Lewit, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Living in Silicon Valley, I am used to reading about new tech wonders every day. In fact, today, we use the internet to do many things we used to do in person, by snailmail or on the telephone. This trend is encouraged by new technology, but has…
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CMS EHB FAQ
By Joe Touschner Despite that title, our blog is not converting to the abbreviated language of texts and Twitter–I promise to type out the words in full when they’re needed. We’re also definitely not moving with Twitter speed in bringing you the news, but on February 17, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released…
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What’s the Score? CBO’s Updated Baseline Released
By Martha Heberlein I don’t know what you did yesterday, but I spent the day eagerly awaiting CBO’s annual March baseline. As the “official scorekeepers” in Washington, their projections of spending and enrollment in Medicaid, CHIP, and coverage under the exchanges carry a lot of weight. Besides, who wouldn’t love the neat little tables they produce…
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Medical Bills – A Strain to Many Families
By Martha Heberlein Many families are struggling with medical debt. During the first 6 months of 2011, one in three people was living in a family experiencing a financial burden due to medical care, such as having medical bills that they are unable to pay, according to data released by the CDC. The chances of facing…
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HHS Releases Final Exchange Rules
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a set of final rules on Affordable Insurance Exchanges. This set of rules generated quite a lot of interest from stakeholders as more than 24,000 comments were submitted to HHS. Some of the rules announced this week are in interim final status, meaning HHS will…
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HHS Releases Report on ACA’s Lifetime Limit Provision
Twenty-eight million children no longer have to face lifetime caps imposed on their health insurance benefits thanks to the Affordable Care Act, according to an issue brief released this week by the Department of Health and Human Services. Our research has shown that lifetime caps on insurance benefits are a major concern for families with…
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A Double Benefit – More Kids Enrolled and Administrative Savings
We have long been fans of the enormous success that Louisiana has had in improving retention among children in Medicaid and CHIP through administrative renewals and ex parte. I mean, really, who wouldn’t be wowed by the fact that just 1% of children lose coverage at renewal for procedural reasons! Not to mention the low, low…
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HHS Gives States an Extension on Exchange Establishment Funding Requests
“Be careful what you wish for” is the adage that came to mind when HHS announced it planned to extend the final deadline for applying for Level II exchange establishment funding from June 29, 2012 to November 3, 2014. The announcement published in the federal register today proposed to set the rolling deadline for Level…
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HHS Signals Approach on Actuarial Value, Cost Sharing
By Joe Touschner In a bulletin released late last week, HHS provided some indication of how it will use the key concept of actuarial value in rating health plans under the Affordable Care Act. The same bulletin shared some clues on the cost-sharing reductions that some moderate income families will receive when they enroll in exchange…
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Public Programs that Work – Good News on Children’s Coverage
By Eugene Lewit, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Late last year, while official Washington and its pundits were busy deconstructing the failure of the “Super Committee” and the rest of us were planning our holiday celebrations, the National Center for Health Statistics quietly released its 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. Among other…
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Keeping Care Affordable: CMS Stands up for California Kids
By Michael Odeh, Children Now Earlier this month the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made an important ruling that truly embraces the “AFFORDABLE” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Health care services and economics research over the past four decades has clearly shown that unaffordable cost-sharing in health care can be a…
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A State-by-State Look at Gains in Preventive Care Under the ACA
Since we spend a lot of time looking ahead to 2014 and the promise of significant gains in coverage, it’s always encouraging to see some immediate benefits of the Affordable Care Act. This time: preventive care for families. Last week, amidst the excitement over new Essential Health Benefit information and the Administration’s budget, some good…